


Almost Within Reach

by Hammocker, SocialDeception



Series: As Good as Equals [2]
Category: Outlast (Video Games)
Genre: Anal Sex, But different, Dirty Talk, Dubious Consent, Eddie POV, It's the Same Fic, M/M, Past Abuse, Porn, Power Dynamics, Rough Sex, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 18:10:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11719740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hammocker/pseuds/Hammocker, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialDeception/pseuds/SocialDeception
Summary: The walls of Mount Massive exerted madness as much as they absorbed it. No one in the building could escape that crazed fever, not even those already infected.Perhaps that's how Eddie Gluskin finds himself tied to a table by the very prey he was hunting moments before.





	Almost Within Reach

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Slytherin_Queen_06](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherin_Queen_06/gifts).



> We hope you enjoy the shift in POV, despite how long it took us to get this posted. It was a fun exercise, and we hope it shows!
> 
> To new readers, this is a POV-shift from [Almost Like the Real Thing](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10026563). It works as a stand-alone, but will probably make more sense if read in order.

If walls could speak, then Mount Massive would have many stories to tell. Of depravity, of greed. Of ruined lust and broken men. Of insanity, first and foremost, but perhaps not in the way you’d expect. 

Darkness had fallen, and the crumbling old building held its breath, the whole world freezing for a moment. The old gymnasium was full of bodies, but void of life. Except for two.

The two men were locked in a fight of life or death. One was fast, but wounded, the other strong, but dazed. Ropes were tied by practiced hands, but something went wrong, like everything else in this place.

In a flurry of motion, one man found himself staring at the strong man by his feet. Victorious, but no victor. In a place like this it would be fitting to flee, yet he stood his ground for several minutes, seemingly debating himself.

Then, in a move that seemed out of place, but made perfect sense within the confines of the asylum, he tied the strong man with the same ropes he himself had been tied with, securing him.

Another few moments were spent in contemplative silence, before he finally dragged his winnings through the door and out of sight.

Then the old bricks released their breaths, and the world started turning again.

*****

He’d expected to wake up quite dead. Or not wake up at all. Eddie had pondered the possibility of an afterlife many times and he’d never been able to find a good answer. He doubted the existence of the benevolent god he’d been raised to believe in, but the soul wasn’t impossible. Who was to say that nothing happened after life?

Yet Eddie felt very much alive. He felt himself breathe, felt the air on his skin, felt the blood pulsing gently beneath his skin. In fact, his head felt clearer than it had been. Thumping with a headache, certainly, but he could think. He remembered what had happened, being poked and prodded and violated. He remembered hitting his head. Remembered chasing- him. And the blood. It all seemed like a dream in his head, or an out-of-body experience. A phantom. He couldn’t have done all he'd dreamed of doing. There was no way.

When he opened his eyes, there was a moment where all he could see were shapes. Terrifying ones, like the ones he’d seen as a boy. They flickered and moved, changing form until they all solidified in the middle of the room. In the form of that phantom. The ghost in the halls. Or any of the other names Eddie had made for it. He gritted his teeth.

It was hovering near his bed, going through his precious things. The things collected and saved for the beloved he couldn’t quite seem to be able to chase down. She was down here, though. That much he knew. But what good would finding her be, if this creature-

“Don’t touch those,” he mumbled feebly and tried to sit up.

As he shifted his arms, he found them heavy and unresponsive. He thought it might be a side effect of that bump to the head, but no, he felt abrasive, dry ropes around his wrists. It didn’t take much to put together what had happened.

“How’d you…?” Eddie started, but was quickly interrupted.

“Why shouldn’t I touch them?”

Eddie sat up as best he could, ignoring the creature while glancing down at the ropes. He tugged at them, testing their strength, and surely enough, they wouldn’t budge. His heart began to pound. That thing had rendered him vulnerable.

“Why shouldn’t I touch them?” the thing repeated, and the sheer gall of it had Eddie snap back to anger before fear had a chance to take root.

“They aren’t for you!” he snarled, and the room started getting clearer and clearer for each blink and breath he made.

The creature’s face twisted into a sour grimace. “They weren’t for you, either.”

Eddie wanted to yell. To fight and to claw his way out of the restraints, but before he could say anything he shut his mouth and thought about his predicament. This… thing, whatever it was, was clearly not like the others. Not like the doctors and rapists and creatures in the halls. No, this thing was different. And fighting it would probably prove futile.

“Darling, please undo these ropes. I’ll forgive you.” Eddie shot the creature his most dazzling smile. “It’s quite alright, a woman is allowed to be ridiculous at times.”

The thing snorted before one of the rings was sent flying at his face. It hit him on his brow, sending another wave of pain through his already sore head.

“You slut!” he yelped with a grimace. “Just you wait, when I’m out of these ropes, I’ll tear you to shreds!”

It didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore, and tossed another. Eddie turned his head away, letting it bounce off the side of his mouth.

“Did you kill the owners of these rings?” it asked, flicking another at him. “Take them off cold, dead fingers?”

Eddie’s anger faded then. He- he hadn’t. That wasn’t how he’d come to own those rings. Those rings were _his_ , always had been, and he had gotten them fair and square.

“You feel good knowing that wives and children are waiting for their loved ones to come back? Feel good knowing you’re breaking families apart?”

That wasn’t true. Was it? No. Yes. He had done those things. He’d maimed and mutilated. Killed even. But he’d been protecting himself! And he had been protecting her. It was such a horrible place that one couldn’t hope to avoid those things. How dare this thing accuse him of breaking families apart. He wouldn’t.

He roared up at the very idea of it, with words that came out muffled and incoherent. Snarled his anger and showed his teeth. Nobody and nothing spoke to him that way, no matter the situation. As he glared and snapped, though, something eerily familiar about the creature shone through. Something he couldn’t truly place.

He was suddenly reminded of other times he had been tied down and humiliated, both in the asylum and other places. Eddie roared and spat, fighting the restraints with every fiber of his being. All those other times where he had been terrified and- The creature had come closer in the time it had taken Eddie to think, closer to all the shame Eddie wanted to hide. In fact it had its shadowy face just inches from it.

“You’re lost, aren’t you, Eddie?” the creature mocked, and Eddie felt a cold chill when the creature spoke his name. “You’re crazy, aren’t you? That’s why they put you here. That’s why they all abandoned you, wasn’t it?”

Eddie bellowed and lunged up at the thing, making to grab and scratch and tear it up. It had no right to speak to him that way. Except Eddie didn’t move, too frozen by the words to do anything at all.

“How does it feel? Being tied up just like your mother was?” the creature continued, leering at him. “Do you want to die like she did?”

Eddie was seeing red, blinded by anger and hatred.

“Didn’t feel too good when you had me like this,” it said. “You thought none of your brides would ever fight back?”

His anger came to a sudden halt. What was this thing talking about? Eddie hadn’t tied it down and he certainly hadn’t taken it as a bride. The thought made his stomach twist.

“You’re no bride, whore,” Eddie said, a dry laugh punctuating his words. “I want a wife, not some rat.”

“No, you don’t!” it shouted, an inhuman bile in its voice. “You want someone to butcher, not marry, you savage!”

“Savage?” Eddie scoffed at the thought. “I’m not the savage between us, you crazy bitch.”

“If I’m the savage, then what’s it say for you? You’re the one strapped to the table.”

Eddie gave a grumble and looked away. He kept the thing in his peripheral vision, trying to forget the imbalance of power between them.

“I just wanted you to love me, Eddie,” the creature said, and when Eddie looked back at it, its features had swirled together until it vaguely resembled that face Eddie had been searching for. “I wanted you to love me, and you tried to _cut_ me.”

“I was trying to make you perfect, darling,” Eddie argued softly. “And you- you rejected me.”

“Wasn’t I good enough for you?” the woman-creature said. “I wouldn’t have tried to cut you like some piece of meat.”

“I wanted to help you,” Eddie pleaded. “To take away your ugliness.”

She frowned and a hint of spite entered her face.

“Maybe I’m supposed to be ugly,” she said.

Eddie felt a tug at his heart, but before he could speak, she continued.

“Maybe you’re the ugly one. Maybe I need to make you perfect.”

The words hit Eddie like an icy wind. Suddenly he wasn’t even sure what she-it was or how much danger he was in.

“Let’s see what we’re working with,” she said triumphantly and reached for Eddie’s crotch.

Now Eddie knew she wasn’t his father. She couldn’t be. But her dainty little fingers still looked like _his_ when she reached for him; too large, with rinds of dirt under the fingernails. Not like a woman’s hand at all.

“You crazy bitch!” Eddie screeched and thrashed, trying to get away from the hands she had to be wearing like gloves. Had she dug his father up to do this? The thought disturbed him far more than anything else had in this place. “You crazy rapist bitch!”

She didn’t listen to him, instead she carefully started to undo his belt. And she did it so slowly. So, so slowly, like she was marveling in the terror the action caused him. The sound of leather sliding across leather, the metal clinking against metal, all of it reminders of past events.

Then her fingers grazed his skin when she untucked his shirt carefully, and Eddie had to contain a whimper. At the moment he wasn’t sure if she was gonna rape him with whatever else she had dug up from his father, or stuff him back into that god-awful machine, but either way he knew it wasn’t gonna be pleasant.

“Would you be more comfortable if I took it all off, or just your pants?”

The civility of her tone caught Eddie off guard, and he opened and closed his mouth a few times, suddenly at a loss for words.

“Mm, you’re right,” she said pleasantly, shooting Eddie a warm smile. “You’ll be a lot more comfortable like this.” She stroked a hand across his chest, squeezing the firm muscle with both hands like he was a woman.

Eddie felt sweat rolling off of his forehead, cold fear clutching him all the while. He shook under touches that might have been welcome anywhere else. 

“Not very fun, is it?” she jeered. “Being touched when you don’t want it.”

“Please don’t.” Eddie felt himself deflate. “Please.”

“Has that ever helped you, boy?” she asked in a trembling voice. “Have I ever given a single shit if you yelp or beg?”

Eddie didn’t answer, because she knew the answer as well as he did. No, it never helped, no matter how much he begged. So he sank back and stared at the ceiling, like he’d done so many times before.

 _Just clench your teeth_ , Eddie, he told himself. _Just clench your teeth and it’ll be over soon_.

He felt her pull his pants down, felt her touch his skin and almost felt her hungry gaze all over his body, but he didn’t move and he didn’t speak. Just kept staring at the ceiling, at the cracks and the peeling paint. If he stared hard enough, then maybe the rest would disappear.

She chuckled, then, and there was nothing feminine about it. It was his father’s voice, his father’s laugh, back from the grave, like his hands. And then that final barrier was gone, and he was naked in someone else’s clutches yet again.

He wasn’t sure what he expected, but when he saw the glint of stainless steel - the only things left in the asylum that wasn’t affected by the rot - he risked a glance her way.

It wasn’t as if it really mattered. He had accepted his fate at this point. Maybe it was fitting that he should live and die like this, naked and restrained.

“You all deceive me,” Eddie said softly, because that was the one thing he couldn’t get past. All the times he had begged his mother to stop it, begged his doctors, begged whatever girlfriends he’d had for a short time. He had begged them all, and none had listened.

“Where should I start cutting?” she whispered, and Eddie gave a start when the cool blade touched his skin. “Maybe down here.”

Eddie held himself still, forcing himself flat against the table. Tears pricked at his eyes and he squeezed them shut, doing all he could to block out the image. If this was punishment, or vengeance, or his father’s will back to finish what he had started, then he didn’t want to watch.

He suppressed a grunt as he felt the knife run across his skin and whimpered as it nicked his skin. Blood flowed out over his abdomen and fear set in so terribly that Eddie thought he might vomit.

“I could, you know.”

Eddie blinked at the sound of metal clattering to the floor. He looked up at her and found her face different again. Not a thing, not even a woman, something he didn’t recognize at all, but it was familiar all the same.

“But I won’t,” she said, giving Eddie a cold stare. “I don’t mutilate people. I’m not your father.”

Suddenly, Eddie could breathe again. Tears still dripped from his eyes, but they weren’t painful. The edges of her face seemed to glow with light and Eddie knew exactly what she was: an angel. Something far too beautiful for a place like this.

“Thank you,” he breathed, the corner of his mouth perking up. How could he not feel some elation, being in her presence?

“Anything for you,” she whispered. “Anything for you, Eddie.”

She didn’t stop touching him, but the touch was different this time; soft, gentle and almost welcomed. Perhaps she was a bit more forward than what Eddie looked for in a woman, but the way she looked at him made him push that thought to the back of his head.

In fact, the way she was looking at him- Eddie swallowed. Her gaze, filled with so many emotions and all of them for _him_ , had a stab of arousal shoot almost painfully through his lower abdomen. He had missed that look. Missed having it directed at him and no one else.

Still, he squirmed under her touch, uncomfortable with his own vulnerability.

“What did you say about me being ugly?” she breathed, her hands daintily tracing his abdomen.

“Not-” Eddie scrunched his forehead. Had he ever called her ugly? “Never ugly.” He held her gaze. “Tainted by it. With this place.” He tried hard to express to her how it was never her, never her, just these damned halls and all the sewage kept within them.

At least she seemed pleased by his explanation, and she smiled at him. Eddie wanted to smile back, in fact he was just about to, when she spoke again.

“Well then, since I’m obviously not good enough, maybe I should just leave you here.”

Eddie felt himself paling as reality tilted a little. He felt stuck somewhere in the middle, somewhere between a young boy tied to a bed, and a grown man who had committed too many atrocities to ever be left alive.

She couldn’t do that to him, it would be the end of him. He couldn’t find the words to express it, but he hoped the look he sent her said it all.

_Please don’t._

“You never wanted me, you wanted pussy, didn’t you?” She was still smiling, but this time Eddie had nothing to offer but a frown. “And you got desperate.”

Desperate. Such an ugly word for what Eddie was. She didn’t seem sorry for it either. She simply leaned forward so Eddie could get a good look at her eyes when she spoke again.

“So you want pussy? Well, I got one.”

Eddie recognized that look. He’d seen it in every pair of eyes in this place. Something sickly and manic and _wrong_. It was in the very walls here, and it infected everyone it touched, even her. It had spread to the very depths of her, evident by the crudeness of her words.

She moved, except she didn’t. Eddie blinked. One moment he saw her lift her skirt up to offer herself to him, the next he thought what he saw was an extension of her arm. Something was very, very wrong here. She was definitely showing him her pussy, but it seemed as infected as everything else in this place; Pink and swollen and grotesque.

“Slut,” Eddie hissed and wrinkled his nose. This isn’t what he wanted. This wasn’t who he wanted.

“And maybe-” she said, rubbing herself on him. “- I’ll share if you’re nice.” She walked away, something that didn’t make sense if she had been straddling him. Eddie shook his head.

She sat down on his bed, gently at first, before leaning back to show off the lines of her body. She kept staring at him with those strange eyes, but Eddie found he didn’t mind it as much anymore. She arched her back, pressing her pelvis out, when she tried to unclasp the dress in the back of her neck. Eddie almost wanted to say he could help her, but he didn’t, too mesmerized by her movements and actions to say anything at all.

It wasn’t a dress. It was never a dress, Eddie realized, but one of the ugly patient uniforms in drab greens and browns. What was wrong with his eyes? If he could not notice something that obvious, what else was he missing?

Whatever it was, Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She’d splayed her legs out, giving him a tempting view of her groin. She was grabbing at herself, pawing or- palming? Her form seemed to shift and mold in front of him, but it wasn’t a change, not really. It seemed more like he was finally seeing something that had always been there. Part of her. That pussy wasn’t part of her.

It felt like falling. Like he was losing his balance, except he was still firmly tied down. Something about her had his world tip over completely. He wanted her. His nostrils flared as he took in a sharp breath and he felt his briefs tighten around him. He had to strain to look at her, but the pain in his neck was worth it. He’d endure many pains for her.

She stopped, then, and looked up at him.

“For someone who keeps calling this ugly, you seem pretty interested.”

Eddie felt ashamed that she’d caught him staring, but not enough to look away. She caught on, because she laughed. She’d laughed before, but this was different. Different in a good way.

“Couldn’t do this around you,” she continued, licking her palm and giving a shamelessly lecherous glare. “Barely got any chance to in this place, but I did.”

 _Slut_ , Eddie repeated in his head, but he couldn’t push away the stab of arousal that shot through him. The image of her, stroking herself in some dingy closet, alone and in desperate need of a real man; satisfying that need that he’d brazenly ignored in his quest to make her perfect. How could he have been so blind? So concerned with his own desires that he’d been unable to see hers. The fear and excitement of this place had caused him unwanted lust before, so why would it be different for her?

“Would you have liked that?” she asked, her voice husky and low. “Catch me fucking myself in a locker? Grab me and have your way with me?”

Eddie’s breathing picked up at the idea, and he strained against the ropes. Her teasing had been harmless enough, but it was creeping up on his last nerve. Sooner than later, he felt he might go mad with his lack of power.

“That’s all you wanted; just a nice, warm hole to fuck.”

Yet she was right about him. He was addled with lust and were he not held down, well, Eddie wasn’t sure if he could control himself. If he’d even want to control himself.

“But fucking me as I am, that would be such an indignity for you, wouldn’t it? You’d probably rather just take the pussy and be done with me.”

Eddie swallowed thickly at that. He tried to say something but the words died in his throat. He’d been hoping that the disembodied organ was only a hallucination, but she seemed equally aware of it. Whatever she was, Eddie wasn’t sure if she was a “she” at all anymore.

“Feels great,” he heard her mutter.

A flash of envy ran down his spine. It wasn’t right that she should be pleasuring herself. Not without him. Not like this.

He squirmed, and blinked, and when he looked back up at her, she was suddenly standing halfway between where she’d been and where he was. She really was a phantom.

She was undressing, shedding the uniform without any apparent shame, and Eddie saw perfect, unblemished skin as it was revealed to him.

Something- Eddie bit down on the inside of his cheeks. Something wasn’t quite right. He watched her face and then her crotch and back up again, and something was definitely off.

She didn’t give him the time to ponder on it before she climbed on top of him, perching herself right below his still aching erection. He watched her face as she adjusted something between them, saw her face contort in pleasure. She caught him looking, and she smiled devilishly at him.

“You like that, huh?” she teased, inching closer to him. “How long has it been since you had a warm and willing body in your lap?”

It was a rude question, and one Eddie didn’t want to answer. Perhaps she saw his lack of cooperation as an invitation to do as she pleased, because suddenly she had her hands on him. Eddie jolted at the contact and hissed something he wasn’t quite sure what was.

“Can barely hold you and the pussy,” she said, and Eddie wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. “So big.”

Eddie watched her carefully as he tried to thrust his hips up against her, despite how tightly he was tied down. She moved back against him, eyes clouded, before she spoke again.

“I bet those big hands of yours would feel great on my hips just now,” she breathed, the sound of her voice egging Eddie on as he thrust against her. “I would’ve let you hours ago, you know, if I didn’t know how that’d end.”

It was like a dream, being here with her. Her angelic face lit up with as much arousal as beauty. 

Because despite everything else, she was so very beautiful, and Eddie stared at her without blinking, not wanting to miss a single second of the emotions he found there. It was as if she knew, because her eyes opened then, looking at him, looking right at him, and Eddie wanted nothing else but to claim her for his own.

Her expression changed as she climaxed, her eyebrows pinching together and her mouth falling open. She looked so vulnerable, so relaxed and tensed all at once. But more than anything else she was open for him. Opened all the way.

The orgasm left a pretty blush on her cheeks and chest, but there was nothing of that blushing bride as her gaze focused on Eddie once again.

“Look at me,” she said, and Eddie did.

He looked at her strong jaw and wide shoulders. Her flat chest and narrow hips. And finally he saw the cock between her legs and realized she was no woman at all.

“Bet you want a crack at this now,” he said, but Eddie didn’t hear the words.

This thing was a man, a man holding some perverted imitation of a woman. Not even a woman, just her most private bits. Eddie’s nose wrinkled and he felt his stomach turn. His captor dragged the toy along his stomach, some of its contents dripping out. Eddie was all-too-aware of what that fluid was, but, despite everything, his own cock was still erect. Why? Was this a joke?

“You haven’t exactly been nice, but I guess you’ve been nicer than usual,” the man mused, his smile almost cruel. Then he leaned down and placed his mouth over Eddie’s heart, kissing and licking the taut skin until he reached Eddie’s left nipple. Once there he trailed his tongue lazily across it, looking up at Eddie all the while.

He looked familiar, but Eddie couldn’t quite place him. Something about those eyes. Something about the mussed hair and soft lips. The man smiled and sat back up.

“Want to say please for me?” The man didn’t wait for an answer before he placed the filthy concoction over Eddie’s cock.

No, Eddie definitely didn’t want to beg for it, and he gritted his teeth as the man rubbed the damn thing over the head of his penis. The man didn’t give up, though. He kept sliding the slick toy over him, each time lowering the toy a little more until Eddie was certain he was gonna breach the damn thing. But he never did.

Eddie studied the man’s face. It wasn’t cruelty in his smile per se, no, it was- satisfaction. The unbearably cathartic smirk of a man who was taking vengeance. Eddie knew that expression all too well.

“And you think you’re some kind of gentleman?” he asked a moment later, the smile twitching like he was trying to hide it.

Before Eddie could so much as have another thought, the toy was shoved down over his cock. Eddie half-gagged, half-groaned at the sudden tight pressure. It was filthy, degenerate, disgusting, but his hips thrust up into it anyway. His cock had been hard the whole time and only seemed to grow more engorged. God damn this man for being right.

“Told you it was good,” the man murmured over him, sounding pleased. “Bet it’s even better for you with my cum still inside.”

 _Dirty_. Eddie kept repeating that word in his mind. The mock-vagina was dirty, and it was even dirtier to to have it sheathed onto him with another man’s cum inside. Worse, though, was that Eddie was beginning to realize that that filth was exactly what was fueling his arousal. Something was terribly wrong with him.

To add insult to injury, the man reached down to shamelessly fondle him. First around the facade between them, then- farther down. He cupped Eddie’s balls, feeling their weight, and Eddie shivered under the attention. Even women weren’t supposed to put their hands there. It was wrong and vile and- sensitive. Eddie wanted to recoil and hide, even as he felt himself grow closer to his climax.

Eddie gritted his teeth, doing what he could to prevent that from happening. A climax might be the best way to get this man away from him, but something made him hesitate. He wouldn’t have any help, though, as his captor kept pushing and pulling the silicone thing over him.

“You like that?” the man hissed. “You thinking about fucking me? Thinking that’s what I’d feel like? With my slick and all?”

Eddie felt tears pricking at his eyes and he flexed against the ropes. Yes, that was exactly his thought. The sin of it be damned, he wanted this man. Wanted to fuck him, possess him, know him.

“Bet I’d feel even better.”

The man kept talking, but Eddie didn’t hear most of it, just pieces.

“... fuck me just like I am,” he said, giving Eddie a stare of lust to rival his own.

Eddie could only tug against his restraints as he felt blood rush to his face.

“Vulgar.”

The veins in Eddie’s face were threatening to pop. He was caught between suppression and a coming rampage, and this man was only egging him on. Eddie was going to _hurt_ him. He didn’t know how, but he knew he would.

“You could make me happy,” the man breathed. “Want to go harder?”

Eddie couldn’t take it.

“I want you.” Eddie wasn’t sure if he had planned to say the words out loud, but he found he didn’t regret it. Some of the pressure he’d felt released, and the man’s smile softened.

“You got me,” he said, pumping the artificial vagina a few times. “I’m right here.”

Eddie was gonna climax if he kept this up, and he found he really didn’t want to. Not yet. Eddie yanked on the rope again. “I don’t want that damn thing, I want you!”

“But I thought I was a whore? A whore with dirty bits on me too.” The man rubbed himself on Eddie, like he was proving his point, and somehow the feeling of it had Eddie’s heart pump even faster. “Surely you’d have to-”

“I don’t have to do anything!” Eddie was shouting now, but he didn’t care anymore. All he wanted was to- “I want you! I want to know you! I want us to consummate our love!”

“If I cut the ropes-” The man leaned down closer, and Eddie couldn’t stop watching his eyes, his lips, every inch of flushing skin and those hands that despite it all hadn’t hurt him. “-What would you do?”

There were plenty of things Eddie wanted to do. At that moment, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to fuck this man or kill him. The thought was as amusing as it was terrifying, and as if the man read his thoughts, he paled slightly.

“Well?” the man repeated, revealing his anxiety the second he spoke. His voice was wavering, his eyes unsure, and Eddie realized he might hold all the cards after all.

“Come closer and I’ll tell you,” Eddie said, and watched the man debate himself before leaning closer. As he came close, Eddie could smell him; a confusing mix of fear, arousal, filth and soap, but somehow not wholly unappealing. When he was just within reach, Eddie lurched forward and sunk his teeth in the man’s neck.

Eddie imagined he could feel the man’s heart speed up, imagined he could feel his veins contract under his teeth, and the thought made him even harder. This was the moment where he had to choose.

With closed eyes Eddie allowed his body to decide, and with a groan he licked the bitten skin with reverence.

“If you untie me, darling, I’ll fuck you ‘til you can’t walk.”

The man’s breath hitched and his whole body jerked against Eddie’s. His eyes were clouded when he finally pulled away, and Eddie knew that he would be let free.

Free.

The man reached for the knife, and placed it against the ropes around Eddie’s wrists. He paused, eyes wild, and stared at Eddie.

“I’ll grab those hips like you said you wanted and show you what I want,” Eddie growled, and that was all it took. The man immediately cut the ropes and then Eddie was truly free.

The world stopped again, and Eddie watched the man as he leaned back. He’d had many expressions since this started, both as a phantom, a woman and now, finally, the man. He’d shown anger, he’d mocked Eddie, and he had shown unbridled lust for him. But now the man seemed defeated, lost and afraid. Somehow Eddie found that more of a turn-on than all the other emotions combined, and he realized that he had to touch this man, had to take him, had to claim him.

Their mouths were pressed together before Eddie knew what had happened, and although the kiss was an ugly thing, more teeth than lips, heat still flared through Eddie like wildfire. After being tied down and denied for so long, Eddie found he couldn’t touch the man in his arms enough. He dug his fingers into flesh that was a soft as it looked, and enjoyed the feeling of the man rocking into him.

Eddie growled, hoisting the man into his arms before carrying him off to the nearest wall.

“I’m gonna tear you apart,” Eddie warned, barely capable of separating his lips from the man’s flesh.

“Do it,” he challenged. “Fucking do it.”

The man’s legs came up around Eddie’s hips, spurring him on. Eddie took the invitation fully, but if this man thought he’d have it easy, he was in for a rough surprise.

Eddie’s erection prodded at the man’s rim for an instant before he forced his way inside. The man gave an absolutely delicious cry of pain and frustration. With nowhere to go, he scrabbled at Eddie’s back.

“Stop-” he gasped half-heartedly.

But Eddie knew that the man didn’t want him to stop. The slut wanted more, but he wanted more _his_ way. It seemed he hadn’t noticed that Eddie was no longer caged.

“You cut me loose, you filthy slut,” Eddie groaned and despite the man’s protests Eddie pressed himself all inside until he was fully sheathed in his ass. “I told you what would happen if you cut me loose.”

The man didn’t answer. He seemed completely lost in the moment, lost while his body desperately tried to accommodate Eddie’s cock. He was tighter than Eddie had anticipated, tight to the point where it almost hurt, and when Eddie pulled out it felt like the man was clinging to him even harder. With a growl Eddie pushed back inside, only to be clenched down again.

“Tighter than any woman,” Eddie growled and tried to press kisses to the man’s lips, only to find his mouth hanging open.

Once his body seemed willing to accept every inch of him, Eddie started fucking him. Slowly, at first, before he started picking up speed. The man was moving against Eddie, rolling his hips and squirming in his hold, every movement making Eddie swell further with arousal. It truly was like a dream, being here with him. One of the dangerous dreams Eddie had always tried so desperately to hide.

“Fuck me,” he groaned, fucking himself further on Eddie’s cock. “I want to get fucked, so what are you waiting for?”

Eddie pressed himself until he was buried in the other man’s body, and pressed himself further still. The feeling of his clenching and unclenching around Eddie’s cock was unlike anything Eddie had felt before, and he wanted more of it. He wanted so much more.

In fact- Eddie started pulling back, chuckling when the man tried to hold him back with his body as much as the low whimper escaping his lips.

“On all fours,” Eddie heard himself say, and before waiting for any sort of response he pushed the man down on the floor. Eddie’s shirt and vest felt constricting and he tore them off before flipping the man around.

He didn’t look that much different than a woman from this angle, apart from the too-narrow hips and the vulgarity between his legs, but Eddie found he didn’t find it anymore. Instead he grabbed on to his hips and jerked him back until his ass was firmly seated against Eddie’s groin.

The man gasped then, but when Eddie moved again, the sound turned into a broken moan instead.

“Mmm, better, I can-” Eddie paused just enough for him to urge the man to arch his back further until his ass was presented to him like a bitch in heat. The rest of what he was supposed to say disappeared in the moment, although he was certain he spoke regardless. He didn’t let that stop him in either case.

The body beneath his was beautiful, despite the harsh, masculine angles, and Eddie thrusted a few times more into that tight heat before pressing his hand against the man’s head.

There was a moment, another brief moment, where Eddie considered crushing his skull like an overripe pumpkin, but instead he curled his fingers in dirty hair and yanked the man’s head back so he could crush their lips together. So closely related they were, lust and anger.

“Slut,” Eddie mumbled against his lips, fucking him harder. “This is what you get for teasing me.”

Eddie imagined the words would temper the minx below him, but instead he gave Eddie a sideways glare and a mocking smirk.

“So you’re not so dignified after all, huh?”

Even face down in filth, getting fucked like a whore, this man had the audacity to talk back. Eddie did the only thing he knew to do with such insolence, and with a grunt he slapped the flat of his hand across the man’s ass. The blow had the man tense and clench around him, and Eddie was tempted to repeat the action just to feel it again.

“Filthy slut,” Eddie hissed. “Don’t get lippy with me.”

“Why not?” the man continued, baring his teeth against the floor. “You like having an excu-”

Eddie didn’t let him finish, grabbing on to his neck instead. He pressed his face against the dirty floor, dragging it against the wood. A little more pressure and he could break the man’s neck right there and then. The thought had him thrust a little harder.

The man didn’t respond, just shuddered and jolted against the floor before something occurred to Eddie.

“You wanted me to force you down,” he said with a breathless chuckle, forcing himself to still his movements. “Wanted to make me work for it, hunt like an animal for it. Perfectly natural, darling.” Eddie drew a shuddering breath. “But what happens once I’ve caught you?”

The man groaned beautifully beneath him, pushing back for friction, but finding none.

“Tell me, darling,” Eddie snaked his hand up around Waylon’s neck and squeezed. “What happens then?”

The man had a beautiful neck. Slender and graceful, but strong. Not fragile like most of the whores Eddie had crushed beneath his hands, but powerful. A fitting prey for someone like Eddie.

He was squirming now, like a dying animal. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

“Fuck!”

The words hadn’t fully slipped from his mouth before Eddie slapped his ass again. He clenched around Eddie again, harder this time, hard enough to make Eddie’s cock twitch. Eddie liked the thought of that, being buried to the hilt in this body, like Eddie was nothing but a knife. Nothing but teeth and nail and desperate urges.

“Tell me,” Eddie continued and dug his fingers a little deeper into Waylon’s throat. “What happens when the wolf catches the lamb?”

“Yours,” the man panted without much pause, pushing himself closer. “The lamb is yours.”

Eddie felt like he blacked out for a moment, the persistent, aching arousal increasing in volume until everything else was drowned out.

_Yours, yours, yours, yours._

The word echoed in Eddie’s mind, and he dug his fingers into the man’s throat and fucked him like an animal. There was something beautiful about that, the prey delivering itself in the arms of the predator, laying its head between its jaws. Very far removed from the whores that had scattered away from him like carrion birds. It gave him the most uncanny inclination to keep this man for himself. Dangerous thinking.

But Eddie had known this one was special. He must have known that.

Even if he’d wanted to stop, Eddie couldn’t have. He pounded into the man with no abandon, no restraint, no thought. It was as though this man was made to take him, and only him. Eddie had always expected a woman to take that role, but fate worked in mysterious ways, he supposed.

The man laid below him with absolutely no resistance. His body was as pliant as though he was asleep, even as his eyes fluttered and he scraped his nails on the floor. The man’s only movements were his useless attempts to rub against the floor. The picture only spurred Eddie on.

Still, he couldn’t keep on forever. Eddie wanted to - God, he wanted to - but he’d gone on for a long while as it stood. Eddie let his grunts turn into snarls then to roars. He took his hand off of the man’s neck, only to bear down and bite into the meat of his shoulder.

The man let out a pathetic moan, and Eddie let out a muffled howl. He felt his balls draw up and gave a flurry of shallow thrusts, practically grinding in and out of the man. It felt good and he didn’t want it to end, but at least he’d leave his mark.

Eddie released the man’s shoulder and braced his hands at his side. He let out a triumphant roar as he felt his cock pulse once, twice, then a third time, as he flooded the man with his seed.

He stayed as he was for a long moment, breathing heavily. The man under him was the same way, and, if Eddie didn’t know better, he might of assumed that he’d died at some point during their coupling. In fact, it struck Eddie as more that he’d achieved some sort of nirvana.

Grunting, Eddie let himself fall flat down on top of the man, blanketing him with his own body. It felt like the proper thing to do, to show him that he was protected and possessed now. That Eddie wouldn’t let him go and wouldn’t let anyone so much as lay a finger on him.

It wasn’t particularly comfortable, though, and Eddie quickly found himself wrapping an arm around the man and flipping them both over. The man didn’t squirm or struggle like he had before, he just settled in on top of Eddie. Eddie couldn’t help but smile down at him. He was so beautiful and lovely and sweet like this. He belonged right there, so close to Eddie. True, he wasn’t especially lady-like, but, all the same, Eddie couldn’t help but want to love him in every possible way. And Eddie couldn’t even remember if he’d heard the man’s name.

“Darling.” Eddie tried to keep his voice apologetic and he had to stop himself from kissing the man’s neck. “I seem to have forgotten your name.”

The man hesitated to say, glancing up at Eddie. His eyes were wary, but he smiled nonetheless.

“Waylon,” he answered finally. “My name’s Waylon.”

“Waylon,” Eddie repeated, something blooming in his chest. “I knew I’d find you, Waylon.”

“Find me?” Waylon asked softly, and this time Eddie didn’t stop himself from kissing his skin.

“My pearl,” Eddie murmured. “My darling pearl.” He whispered the last words against Waylon’s lips, before he yet again covered Waylon’s lips with his own. Eddie felt like his chest was gonna swell up and explode with the soft noises Waylon made against him when he deepened the kiss. He felt so small in Eddie’s arms, vulnerable and soft, and Eddie vowed to protect him with his own life.

This could be the change he needed, couldn’t it? Eddie had promised time and time again to be a better man, but perhaps the man in his arms could be the conduit to something Eddie hadn’t been able to reach himself.

Maybe this was the new start he had always needed.

*****

Madness seeped through and from the walls of Mount Massive, like veins through a body. It hung in the air as a fog, an illness. It was neither cruel nor kind, only a seemingly natural occurrence. Everyone who entered its vicinity couldn’t help but fall under the spell.

Thus the two bodies were found curled up tight together, sharing warmth between them. Eddie held Waylon tighter, huge hands keeping him in place as Eddie nuzzled against him. Minutes upon minutes passed, and Eddie’s body grew limp and heavy.

Like a spared lamb beneath a sated wolf, Waylon wriggled gingerly from his grasp. The fear in his eyes had long gone, but his instinct to run had finally overturned his madness.

Perhaps the old bricks guided the misguided into a deep and dreamless sleep, so his prey could slip out from his grasp and disappear into the night like a shadow. Perhaps there was a reason why Eddie was left alone once more.

Because despite the great building’s influence, the unhinged and the broken were still lost. The insanity was a part of them as much as it was the building, like scars running down their backs. It was never going to truly leave them.

Even the victor, currently running down the desolate hallways, was broken despite his winnings. Broken from all he’d seen in the building, and marked from his final exchange in it. Perhaps it would come back to haunt him in due time.

Or maybe, just maybe, he’d even come back for more.


End file.
